The Masked Finfoot

Whenever we hear “Sundarban” we think of the Bengal Tiger, our national animal. While this magnificent animal stirs the imagination, there is another special creature that resides in Sundarban and deserves our attention. It is rare, endangered and beautiful.

The masked finfoot is a bird found in very few places – Bangladesh, Myanmar, and a few other countries. About the size of a domesticated duck, it is distinguished by a black patch running across its face and eyes like a mask. For many passionate birders around the world, it belongs on their list of must-see rare birds.

Masked finfoots belong to the finfoot group of birds which also includes the African finfoot and the (South) American finfoot. There are only one thousand or fewer masked finfoots in the world, the majority of them in Bangladesh. They live in the eastern part of Sundarban.

What makes them special? Their unique appearance, for one thing: after watching one for a few seconds you quickly realize it is unlike any other bird. It swims like a duck but it is not a duck. Its feet are not webbed like ducks' feet. Instead, it has plump toes called “lobes” which enables it to climb trees (which ducks cannot.) It is a poor flier but it can run fast.

 I saw my first masked finfoot ten years ago while on my maiden voyage to Sundarban, the highlight of an eye-opening trip. On this morning, our guide suddenly came running to the deck of our boat yelling “Masked Finfoot! Masked Finfoot!” The bird was busily poking around in the mud and grass of the canal bank and took off in a hurry as our boat approached. I had never heard of it before, but two British birdwatchers on board were elated. Since then, I looked for it during every visit to Sundarban, but I found it only once more. Last week, however, I was able to observe – and learn something – about it.

Our masked finfoots are entirely dependent on Sundarban ecology. They build their nests on mangrove tree branches that extend over smaller creeks. They usually pick their meal from the mud on the banks of creeks during low tide, typically crabs, small insects, crustaceans, small fish and worms. Often these items are trapped in the mud when the tide recedes; that's when the bird goes hunting on the exposed muddy banks of Sundarban's creeks.

Since masked finfoots are elusive and found in inhospitable terrain, not much is known about them. An independent research project called the Sundarbans Finfoot Research Project has studied them. Sayam U. Chowdhury is Principal Investigator and Nazim Uddin Prince is Program Manager of the project. Over the last eight years the project has studied various aspects of this little-known bird, including its nesting habits, reporting its findings in scholarly journals. Currently the project focuses on breeding behaviour of the bird. One research finding: a progressive shift in the bird's habitat preference, with changing tree preference and breeding distribution suggesting a move towards freshwater areas upstream.

After looking at them for some time, I could tell that masked finfoots are nowhere near as wily and skittish as wild ducks are. They – and their eggs – fall prey to man and other predators. Part of the Finfoot Project's efforts has been to reach out to the Sundarban community to save this bird. We need to do all we can to ensure the unique masked finfoot survives and thrives in our country.

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